The linkages between decisions about health research and policy and actual health outcomes may be extraordinarily difficult to specify. We performed a pilot application of a "road mapping" and technology assessment technique to perinatal health to illustrate how this technique can clarify the relations between available options and improved health outcomes. We used a combination of data-mining ...

this brief commentary seeks to develop the analysis of daniels, porteny and urrutia of the implications of expansion of the scope of health technology assessment (hta) beyond issues of safety, efficacy, and cost-effectiveness. drawing in particular on experience in the united kingdom, it suggests that such expansion can be understood not only as a response to the problem of insufficiency of evi...

OBJECTIVES To provide an overview of the development of health technology assessment (HTA) in Germany since the 1990s. METHODS Analysis of key documents (e.g. literature, laws, and other official documentation) and personal experiences. RESULTS Health technology assessment (HTA) entered the political agenda in Germany only in the mid-1990s, basically as the result of a top-down approach tow...

OBJECTIVE Middle-income countries are often referred to as developing or emerging economies and face multiple challenges of severe financial stresses in their health care sectors, and high disease burden. The objective of this study is to provide an overview of how health technology assessment (HTA) is used and organized in selected middle-income countries and its role in the process of pharmac...

OBJECTIVES To identify factors associated with the decisions of the Federal Department of Home Affairs concerning coverage with evidence development (CED) for contested novel medical technologies in Switzerland. DESIGN Quantitative, retrospective, descriptive analysis of publicly available material and prospective, structured, qualitative interviews with key stakeholders. SETTING All 152 co...

Throughout my career as a health economist, one issue has always been a mystery to me—why does cancer enjoy such a dominant position within healthcare systems throughout the world? The debate concerning the reconfiguration of the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF), which is addressed in this journal [1], represents a microcosm of a much wider debate reflecting the complex and ever-changing interface betwe...

The Indian government has made a commitment to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) [1, 2], as a means to reduce catastrophic out-of-pocket health expenditure and ensure affordable access to essential health care for the entire population. As part of the plan to deliver UHC, the government has identified ensuring value for money in the health budget to be a key priority [1, 2]. The central g...

This article reviews the most relevant methodological aspects involved in Health Technology Assessment (HTA). Firstly, it addresses the process of defining the research problem (or scoping). Then it explains some specific aspects of systematic reviews of evidence, as well as indirect and mixed comparisons of the effectiveness of interventions. It covers also the methods for economic evaluation ...

  Background: Various decisions have been made on technology application at all levels of the health system in different countries around the world. Health technology assessment is considered as one of the best scientific tools at the service of policy- makers. This study attempts to investigate the current challenges of Iran’s health technology assessment and provide appropriate strategies to ...